55

[Wi-sunflower]

It only took 55 tries to get it right.

That's about as good as any idea.

I've been trying to figure out what the 55 in Wis 55 stands for for a long time. There are several ideas, a few of which have been discounted here already.

#1 - released IN 1955. Already posted here that that is wrong.

#2 - experimental # 55. Possible, but unlikely as I would think that by 1940 UW had done a lot more than 55 tomatoes.

#3 - Named for Hwy 55. Not as unlikely as it sounds. Hwy 55 runs up thru the center of the state and there is a large UW-extension experiment farm on or very near US 55 near Wis Rapids.

I once talked with people that knew some of the researchers that had been at that station way back, tho not as far back as the 40s. They said they would try to find out the history but never did get back to me about it.

The 1 thing against it being named for US 55 is the fact that Wis 55 is meant to grow best in deep rich black ground. The type of ground around Wis Rapids is called "the Central Sands" or "Golden Sands" area. Not exactly ideal growing for that tomato.

[carolyn137]

I had this link in my faves but it took me forever to find it.

At least it shows what the parents of WI 55 are and I also find it valuable b'c it gives the parentages of many of the older varieties.

Note how many of them have S. pimpinellifolium ( currant tomato) in their backgrounds.

I did try Googling and found nothing more about why the 55 with that variety.

And found who developed Ace55 and the difference between Ace 55 and Ace and AceVF, but nothing about the 55.

http://tgc.ifas.ufl.edu/vol11/v11p36.html

And here's another link with info about some of the older varieties but not as detailed as the one above;

http://www.liseed.org/tomlist.html

[Wi-sunflower]

After looking at the first link and seeing quite a few mentions of the Campbell Soup company tomato varieties I wanted to mention something I was told this fall.

I was talking to a UW prof of Hort about squash and we both mentioned what we used to do before our current jobs. He used to work for Heinz out in California. I used to work for a small division of Campbells.

He mentioned that while Heinz and Hunts developed tomatoes for their yields, and didn't really care how they tasted (just add more sugar or vinegar to the recipe), Campbells actually cared how the tomatoes they grew tasted and wanted those with good taste.

Just something to know when looking at parentages if you are also looking for flavor.

[travis]

Wisconsin 55 may have developed in 1949, according to the NCSU Cultivar Lists, but it was first offered for sale in Gleckler's 1958 seed catalog

http://nctomatoman.topcities.com/See...Gleckler_5.jpg

When the blurry page appears, there will be a little + magnifying glass. Left click once to enlarge the page.

I've heard they were still increasing the seed at the University of Wisconsin as late as 1954. So, maybe it wasn't released out of the ag. station until 1955. Just a hunch.

[Dukerdawg]

The I.Q. of Martin Longseth?

[Medbury Gardens]

travis
Thats something i`ve never seen before in a tomato catalogue- Tatura (62 Days) Dwarf bush,globe,withstands sandstorms.

Richard

[Tormato]

Ahh, good old Ace 55.

The first tomato that one of my relatives picked up, when they came to visit. Written on it was the abbreviation...A55

I sometimes write a 5 much like an S.

This was one, no, two of those times.

Gary

With Homestead 24, it used to be called Homestead No. 24. So, it stands to reason, there were 23 tomato varieties of the same category before Homestead 24. What the category means is anyone's guess. It could be tomatoes that a certain university crossed with Homestead (so, the university may have made 24 total crosses to that point). As the number-thing seems to be a thing that universities do quite a bit, I'm guessing it means something that makes the tomato history easier to identify. You could probably learn the answer by asking such a university what the numbers are for. EDIT: However, apparently, Homestead 24 was a selection from Homestead. So, the category must be a different sort.

So, I'm thinking it's probably the same sort of thing with Ace 55. I could be wrong.